


An Unusual Wake-up Call

by Scriberat



Category: Magi: The Labyrinth of Magic
Genre: Fluff, Gen, Haircuts, Moving On
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-11
Updated: 2020-03-11
Packaged: 2021-02-28 17:21:35
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 429
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23110891
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Scriberat/pseuds/Scriberat
Summary: Koumei finally has to take care of himself, which results in getting rid of a lot of more than he realized he needed to.
Relationships: Ren Koumei & Ren Kouha
Comments: 6
Kudos: 24
Collections: Weekly Writing Drabbles (Any Fandom)





	An Unusual Wake-up Call

**Author's Note:**

> written for a "wake-up call" prompt ^-^

It was different here from home. There were no designated chefs, so it was on rotation, which meant he learned to cook. Chores were required for daily life, so he learned to clean and gut fish and repair nets. There was no sleeping in, so he was up from dawn every day. Koumei had never realized just how bad his routine had been until he was forced into one. He ate at the proper times, he slept at normal times, he took care of himself. However, there was one issue.

His hair was _long_. He realized how much work it took to care for such long hair the first day and figured it would just be a learning process to take care of it. A month passed and he had learned that he really didn't want to take care of this. So, one morning, as he was dragging a brush through the thick strands and trying to get them to sit straight for a minute, Koumei decided he was not going to deal with this anymore. He dropped the brush and went to the kitchen.

"Does anyone have a knife I can borrow?" he asked. Someone handed him one. He thanked them, took it out to the ocean, and sliced off one lock after another, watching them fall away.

 _Slice_. His parents were both dead.

 _Slice_. His beloved uncle and cousins were dead.

 _Slice_. He was separated from his home.

 _Slice_. From his empire.

 _Slice_. His youngest cousin hated him.

 _Slice_. Hakuei was MIA and likely in danger.

 _Slice_. His citizens might suffer terribly.

 _Slice_. More than he had already made them suffer.

 _Slice_. Oh, god, how he made them suffer.

 _Slice_. "Mei-nii-san, what are you doing!?"

"I'm—" What _was_ he doing? This had become more than just a haircut, but he had had so much to grieve for that he had been holding onto. It would do him no good.

"I'm cutting my hair," he said, putting on a smile. Kouha frowned.

"Yeah, sure. Is that all?" Kouha asked, in that way that meant he saw the truth. Koumei sighed and shook his head.

"It's time to let things go."

"Here. You shouldn't be doing this alone," Kouha said, taking the knife. He fixed up the rough cuts into something more stable.

"There ya go~" Kouha smiled as Koumei looked in the water at his reflection.

"It looks good."

"It's a fresh start."

"That it is. Thank you, Kouha." Koumei smiled and hugged him. Kouha giggled.

"No prob, Mei-nii-san. We're here for you, like we always have been."


End file.
